They will also be required to register as sex offenders when they’re released.
Baltimore, Md (KM) Sentencing was handed down last week to two individuals who sexually exploited children. The US Attorney’s Office for Maryland says Friday of last week, John W. Balch, 76, of Jacksonville, Florida, received 60 years in federal prison for two counts of the sexual exploitation of a children. He pleaded guilty last year to those charges..
Sentenced on Tuesday of last week was Jane Ellen Campbell, 35, of Hagerstown who got 210 months incarceration followed by 15 years of supervised probation for distribution of child pornography.
Both defendants will be required to register as sex offenders upon their release from prison wherever they live, work or are students.
Federal prosecutors say between 2017 and 2022, Balch sexually exploited minors between three and 15 years of age, paying the victims’ mothers to produce images and videos of their children in sexually explicit conduct. This also includes getting the mothers to perform sex acts with their prepubescent children, record the abuse and send it to Balch.
Campbell admitted to sending Balch three sexually explicit images of a nine-year-old. She also said she drove women to have sex with Balch when he was staying in various hotels while visiting Maryland.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood. The US Attorney’s Office says that’s a nationwide initiative which began in May, 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. It’s spearheaded by US Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Project Safe Childhood brings federal, state and local resources together to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims.
By Kevin McManus